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The Tip of the Spear exhibit -
Captain Robert “Bob” Ford
In observance of National Vietnam War Veterans Day, the Oklahoma History Center (OHC) will host a ceremony to honor those who served in the US Armed Forces during the Vietnam War on Monday, March 29, from 9:30–11 a.m. The event will include the opening of Tip of the Spear, a new outdoor exhibit featuring a Huey helicopter. The ceremony will take place on the campus of the OHC, located at 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive in Oklahoma City. For more information, please call 405-522-0765.
March 29 was designated National Vietnam War Veterans Day in 2017. The date was chosen to commemorate March 29, 1973—the day when the last US combat troops were withdrawn from Vietnam.
The OHC will open the new exhibit Tip of the Spear at this event. The outdoor exhibit is centered on a Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter—better known as a Huey helicopter—one of the most recognizable icons of the Vietnam War. This Huey was featured in the recent OHC exhibit Welcome Home: Oklahomans and the War in Vietnam, and has now been moved outside for permanent display. Retired US Army Captain Bob Ford, the donor of the Huey and a former Huey pilot, will dedicate the new exhibit.
About Robert “Bob” Ford
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Retired US Army Captain Robert “Bob” Ford was raised in Shawnee. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma Army ROTC program in 1966, followed by flight school. A week before graduation, a general asked him to go to the Aircraft Officer Maintenance Course. Ford replied, “Sir, I want to go to Vietnam, serve my country, and fly in combat.”
In July 1967 three weeks after graduation, 1st Lieutenant Ford arrived in Vietnam and was assigned to the 282nd Assault Helicopter Company in Da Nang. In September 1967, he assumed command of the 282nd’s Hue Detachment and would fly direct support missions for MACV, SF, LRRP, Ranger, and Hac Bao units close to the DMZ and Laos. He flew three resupply missions into the besieged outpost at Huong Hoa on January 21, 1968, the beginning of the siege of Khe Sanh, and ten days later, during the Tet Offensive, he and his unit helped defend the MACV Headquarters in Hue against a three-day ground attack. Ford is recognized for his heroic Vietnam combat helicopter service of over 1,000 missions. For his service, he received the Bronze Star Medal and Air Medal with 12 Oak Leaf Clusters, one with “V” device for Valor.